This episode was recorded before mandatory evactuations forced us south, and it is being released a week late! Is it ironic that we touch on the fires as our way into dicussing emotional logic in narrative? We delve into the importance of understanding why your character is making a particular choice. We understand character through action. When actions don’t reflect common sense, we readers want to undderstand where those actions and decisions are coming from so the reader can connect with the character. This taps into world views and limiting beliefs. Angie pokes Ebineezer Scrooge for what underlies his despicable actions and then turns to Thanos and King Lear to prove that complex motives create more interesting characters. Tools and techniques offered include flexible thinking and resisting the sense that you are going after a single right answer.

Elizabeth’s Tiny Love Story

Carla Lucero 

Monster (feature about Aileen Warnos) 

Aileen Warnos: Life and Death of a Seriel Killer 

Dexter

A Christmas Carol 

The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson

Screenplay of Alien

Dorothy Hearts

Jo Boaler Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers

Cantoras by Carolina De Robertis

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Story Makers is a podcast that features in-depth conversations with accomplished writers, filmmakers and industry experts about story craft, technique, habit and survival--everything you need to know to stay inspired, connect to your creativity, find others’ wonderful stories and your own success.

The hosts:

Elizabeth Stark is a published, agented novelist and distributed filmmaker who teaches and mentors writers at BookWritingWorld.com.

Angie Powers is a distributed filmmaker and published short story writer with an MFA in creative writing and a certificate in screenwriting from UCLA who teaches story structure at BookWritingWorld.com.